Anaheim officer cleared in killing of gang member

Jan. 8, 2013

Updated Aug. 21, 2013 1:17 p.m.

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A memorial for Martin Angel Hernandez, 21, remained after a graffiti-removal crew repainted walls and garage doors in the area. Anaheim police were called to the area over several nights as large crowds gathered at the scene in an alley in the 100 block of East Wakefield Avenue. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Isaias Rincon, 44, father of Martin Angel Hernandez, wears a T-shirt with his son's image at a birthday celebration for his 22nd birthday in the alley in the 100 block of East Wakefield Avenue near Haster Street, where died. LEONARD ORTIZ, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Maria Salazar, in white sweatshirt, angrily addresses Anaheim Police Chief John Welter, left, during a community meeting to address the officer-involved shooting of Martin Angel Hernandez March 6. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Mar. 8, 2012 - A memorial for officer involved shooting victim Martin Angel Hernandez, 21, had grown in the alley where he was fatally shot Tuesday evening. A woman named Priscilla, right, said she was his girlfriend and had spent the night sleeping at the memorial. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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On March 6, 2012, a bullet ricocheted off a trash dumpster in an alley behind the 100 block of East Wakefield Avenue, Anaheim, during an officer involved shooting that killed a man. The Orange County District Attorney's Office has cleared an Anaheim police officer who shot and killed a 21-year-old gang member after the man ignored commands to stop and pointed a shotgun at the patrolman, an investigative letter released Tuesday said. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mar. 8, 2012 - The block wall in the alley in the 100 block of East Wakefield Avenue became a message board of condolence and loss after Martin Angel Hernandez, 21, was fatally shot there by an Anaheim police officer. Here a photo of Hernandez is taped to the wall. A message written on his photo reads "In loving memory - Tripps forever in our hearts". BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mar. 8, 2012 - A memorial for Martin Angel Hernandez, 21, grew in the alley where he was fatally shot. Hernandez was shot by an Anaheim police officer who responded to a call of a men congregating in an alley way, one with a weapon. Hernandez was shot in the head and a shotgun was found near his body. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mar.7, 2012 - Wednesday morning, Anaheim police officers helped employees of Ocean Blue Environmental Services clean up the blood from an officer involved shooting from the previous night. Tuesday, the Orange County District Attorney's Office cleared an Anaheim police officer who shot and killed a 21-year-old gang member after the man ignored commands to stop and pointed a shotgun at the patrolman. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mar. 8, 2012 - Maria Salazar wiped away tears as she viewed a memorial for her neighbor Martin Angel Hernandez, 21. Salazar, who has lived in the neighborhood her entire life, said she considered Hernandez like a son and family member. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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Mar. 8, 2012 - Friends and family mourned Martin Angel Hernandez, who was shot and killed in an alley in the 100 block of East Wakefield Avenue near Haster Street by an Anaheim police officer. The Orange County District Attorney's Office has cleared an Anaheim police officer who shot and killed a 21-year-old gang member after the man ignored commands to stop and pointed a shotgun at the patrolman, an investigative letter released Tuesday said. BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

A memorial for Martin Angel Hernandez, 21, remained after a graffiti-removal crew repainted walls and garage doors in the area. Anaheim police were called to the area over several nights as large crowds gathered at the scene in an alley in the 100 block of East Wakefield Avenue.BRUCE CHAMBERS, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney's Office has cleared an Anaheim police officer who shot and killed a 21-year-old gang member after the man ignored commands to stop and pointed a shotgun at the patrolman, an investigative letter released Tuesday said.

Officer Dan Hurtado was aware of a witness standing nearby and also believed her to be in harm's way before he fired three shots from a Bushmaster AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, he told district attorney investigators.

Martin Angel Hernandez died of a gunshot to the head in the confrontation that took place on March 6.

"In order to neutralize the perceived threat, the officer fired his department-issued rifle," the investigation letter reads, adding Hurtado justifiably used his weapon in self-defense.

Hurtado and two other officers had responded that night to an alley behind an apartment complex on East Wakefield Street in Anaheim, where a 911 caller reported five to six men to be gathered, two of them seen with weapons.

The officers knew the area to be that of a violent criminal street gang enjoined by a court order prohibiting its members from engaging in certain activities in the area, including disturbing the peace and weapons violations, the investigative letter said.

When a witness was asked if the officer's warnings and shots were simultaneous, she told investigators, "No, he totally gave them a chance; he yelled and then he stopped and shot."

A pistol-grip shotgun was found next to Hernandez's body.

While it didn't receive the attention that followed otherofficer-involved shootings in Anaheim later in the year, Hernandez's death contributed to the tension in the community that led to large-scale protests, as well as threats against officers.

In the days after Hernandez's death, more than 200 people gathered in the alley, drawing complaints from residents and leading to verbal clashes with police. Officers wore ballistic helmets to deal with the crowd, which ultimately calmed without violence after the assistance of several mourners.

In late March, Anaheim police Chief John Welter addressed the outcry that followed Hernandez's death at a heated community meeting, telling the crowd that Hernandez was holding a shotgun when the officer fired at him.

Members of the crowd continued to question the police version of events, however, accusing officers of using excessive force and of murdering Hernandez.

Hernandez's family members, who said he had been trying to turn his life around after being released from jail several months prior, joined with family members of individuals killed in other officer-involved shootings to hold weekly protests outside the Police Department.

That tension over fatal shootings involving officers culminated in large-scale, violent protests and a near-riot in the city's downtown after the death in late July of Manuel Diaz, an unarmed man police described as a gang member who was shot by an officer as he attempted to flee on foot through a residential alley on Anna Drive.

The protests brought national attention to the tensions in Anaheim and the mistrust in the police among some residents of the community's impoverished neighborhoods. In the aftermath of the protests, city officials are pushing for an investigation into allegations of police misconduct.

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